Facilities Designated as Health Professional Shortage Areas

This indicator reports the number and location of health care facilities designated as "Health Professional Shortage Areas" (HPSAs), defined as having shortages of primary medical care, dental or mental health providers. This indicator is relevant because a shortage of health professionals contributes to access and health status issues.

Facilities Designated as Health Professional Shortage Areas

Data Background

Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) are designated by the US Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) as having shortages of primary medical care, dental or mental health providers. HPSAs may refer to an entire geographic area (a county or service area), a demographic group within a geographic area (low income population) or an institution (comprehensive health center, federally qualified health center or other public facility).

HPSAs are designated using several criteria, depending on the type of designation. For example, a HPSA may be designated on the basis that medical professionals in contiguous areas are over-utilized, excessively distant, or inaccessible to the population under consideration. HPSAs are also designated based on population-to-clinician ratios. This ratio is usually 3,500 to 1 for primary care, 5,000 to 1 for dental health care, and 30,000 to 1 for mental health care. All Federally Qualified Health Centers and Rural Health Clinics that provide access to care, regardless of patient ability to pay, receive automatic facility HPSA designation.

HPSAs are updated on a continuous basis through the US Health and Humans Services (HHS) Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) GIS data warehouse. For more information about HPSAs, please visit the HRSA Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) web page.

Methodology

Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) facility files were acquired from the US Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) GIS data warehouse. The point locations of these institutions, along with their designation type, were intersected with geographic areas to provide a count of the total number of facilities in an area.

Notes

Race and EthnicityStatistics by race and ethnicity are not provided for this indicator from the data source. Detailed race/ethnicity data may be available at a broader geographic level, or from a local source.

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Our goal is to align resources and work together to improve the health and well-being of all Franklin county residents. Through the utilization of data, we can integrate practices and coordinate improvements that will provide collective impact, leading to positive change.